Reading 0-0 Derby County e-Derby Review

Article by e-Derby County Correspondent Chris Harrison

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They say the hardest thing to do in football is score a goal, if that is true these teams certainly proved that. Derby created 17 shots on goal with only 3 of them hitting the target. Reading in comparison only had 12 shots with only 2 on target, one of the misses from Adam Le Fondre from only 3 yards out.

Derby dominated the first half but failed to make any of their first half efforts count. Craig Forsyth with Derby’s best chance of the first half but the finishing was poor from 7 yards out, failing to hit the target. Will Hughes had to be substituted on the half hour due to an injury and was replaced by Jeff Hendrick in midfield.

Reading came out for the second half with an improved energy creating 3 or 4 chances that should have been taken. Patrick Bamford came on for the energetic Simon Dawkins on the hour and had 2 chances late on which he failed to take advantage of. Derby was cheered on by 1623 travelling fans and they were vocal from start to finish.

A well earned point for Derby against one of their promotion rivals. Considering a recent record against Reading you would have taken the outcome prior to kick off. Both teams had chances to clinch it and on the balance of play the draw was a fair result. Another clean sheet for the Rams will be a boost to Steve Mclaren but he’ll be working on the finishing of the team before the next game.

Derby are now 10 points adrift of Burnley, with QPR and Wigan on good runs Derby are now looking over their shoulder. QPR moved to go level on points with the Rams; they also have a game in hand. Wigan are now only 5 points behind Derby with 2 games in hand, due to their involvement in the FA Cup. This makes next week’s East Midlands Derby with rivals Nottingham Forest, all the more important.

The recent results haven’t been concerning for me as you have to go through a bad patch at some stage during the season. Derby are still the 2nd highest scoring team in the championship and currently sit in 3rd position. The number of chances we are creating and the improved resilience of the defence and goalkeeper are encouraging signs. In the next few weeks Derby are going to take their frustrations, in front of goal, out on one of their oppositions. Maybe that will be next week against Forest, who are out of sorts themselves.

The next week will be exciting for fans of both teams with all the build up to a great rivalry in front of a sell out crowd. Whoever wins the game next week will gain a big boost in confidence going into the business end of the season. Hopefully it will be the Rams taking the 3 points!

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